Something Sinister
by celtickat
Summary: A clued up serial killer who leaves no evidence.  When Gibbs DNA is found on the latest victim and he shoots their only lead, can the team hold it together long enough to work out what is going on?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I wanted to try and write something a bit darker and more in depth than my usual fare, and this is the result. Please review with what you think. This is me though, so there will still be flashes of GABBY, I can't seem to help myself **

Every month for the last 14 months, a murder had been committed; different age groups, different racial groups, different jobs, different MO, different everything except all the victims were in the Navy and they had all been killed by the same person.

0825 Monday

A phone rang, it was answered quickly "yeah, Gibbs"

"Jethro, we have another one"

Gibbs hung up "Autopsy, now, get Abby"

The team looked at each other, a horrible feeling in their stomachs; they didn't have any active body in Autopsy which meant only one thing.

The team stood around a dissecting table, all of them staring at the now sickeningly familiar padded envelope.

Ducky carefully sliced it open, letting the contents slide out onto the table.

This time the envelope held a left thumb, as always, map co-ordinates were tattooed onto the digit.

Tim quickly scribbled the co-ordinates and ran off to pinpoint them. Tony bagged and tagged the evidence and handed it to Abby who left to start the process of identifying the latest victim. Ziva left to collect the truck, Tony to bring the car round. Gibbs left to inform the director.

Not a word was spoken, this was the 15th time they had gone through this routine; words were un-necessary.

Gibbs ran down the stairs from the directors' office "Where McGee?"

"Old warehouse, other side of DC"

They both headed to the elevator, Gibbs phone rang again, he listened then hung up.

He grabbed McGee to stop him entering the elevator, "Lt Alex Delaney"

McGee nodded and turned back to his desk, "I've uploaded the location to the GPS units in all vehicles"

Gibbs jumped into the passenger seat of the waiting car, "McGee is starting background checks"

Tony nodded and drove off, the journey was completed in a grim silence, neither man willing to voice his thoughts on what lay ahead.

The crime scene was different to the others but still eerily similar. Tony and Ziva worked it in silence, with an intensity that would have pleased their boss had he noticed.

Gibbs was outside, the chances of finding a witness were remote at best, this area was deserted, the buildings either boarded up or derelict, even the homeless shunned the place.

He slammed his hand down on the roof of the car, a sign of the frustration and anger he tried so hard to keep locked away. His team needed a break, a break on the case and a break from each other; they had had so little time off in the last 14 months that everything was becoming an irritant.

Back in the office, the evidence deposited with Abby and the body in Autopsy, Tony went to catch up with McGee while Ziva and Gibbs headed out to speak to Lt Delaney's CO and wife.

Hours later they returned, looking as haggard as they both felt. McGee and Tony didn't look any better.

"We got nothing, nada, zip boss, just like every other time, other than being in the navy and killed by this creep, nothing in common with the other victims"

"Au Contraire my friends, on this we do have something" Ducky's voice floated across the room.

4 heads snapped in his direction.

"I found some incongruous fibres and what I hope is foreign DNA, I sent them down to Abby about an hour ago, I was just on my way to see how she was getting on with them"

4 pairs of running feet beat him to the rear elevator.

Inside the lab they found a miserably looking Abby. She was sitting staring at a blank PC monitor.

"Abby? Did you get ANYTHING from the samples Ducky sent?"

Abby nodded, not looking at any of them, she spun in her seat and moved to her work bench. "The fibres are unusual, they come from an Aston Martin, DB5, 1964"

"The name is Bond, James Bond" Tony drawled in a terrible Scottish accent.

Gibbs glared at him "Just trying to lighten the mood boss"

"well don't, go.."

"and run down the car, on it boss!" Tony left the lab, followed by McGee.

"The DNA Abs, tell me you got something off that"

Abby nodded again, she walked over to the blank monitor and switched it on "it's yours Gibbs"


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

There was a moment of stunned silence, everyone was staring at the screen which was flashing '100% match' right beside a picture of Gibbs.

"I wasn't anywhere near the body" Gibbs whispered

"It wouldn't have made any difference Jethro, the hairs were deep inside 2 of the stab wounds"

"Got a time of death Ducky?"

"Around 4.30 this morning"

"This is personal"

"It always has been, this killer, he knows too much about how we work, one body comes just as we run out of leads on the one before and now this" Ziva said thoughtfully "The car fibres, planted also? Yes?"

"Oh yeah, we only found it because he wants us to"

"Who hates us enough to do this?" Ziva was getting angry

"That's a long list Ziva" Gibbs placed a claming hand on her shoulder before leaving the lab.

"Where is he going?" Ziva asked

"I assume to tell the Director that he is now a suspect in this latest murder and has no alibi" Ducky said in a flat voice

"And you have no alibi?"

"Leon, at 0430 this morning I was asleep, alone"

"Officially, you can't work this case Gibbs"

"Oh come on, that's what this scum bag wants!"

"I said 'officially' Jethro"

Gibbs gave him a tight smile and left.

Gibbs went down to the squad room, McGee and DiNozzo were looking at him in shock.

"Ziva fill ya in?"

They both nodded.

"DiNozzo, officially you are now in charge of this case"

"What? Boss? Really? Vance kicked you off the case? But the evidence was clearly planted"

"Officially, DiNozzo"

"Ah ha ha" Tony 'got it' and laughed

"Uh, where do we start boss?" McGee asked, deliberately looking at Gibbs and not Tony.

"You run down those car carpet fibres, and you investigate me like I was a suspect"

Late that night

"Boss, I've run a check on where you were every time of death for each body, you have an alibi for 11 of them"

"And the fibres?"

"Only 1 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in the whole of Washington, Virginia and Maryland"

"One Probie?"

"Well, one that isn't in a museum"

"have we got a name McGee?"

"uh, yeah, it's owned by Phillip Thompson, a 48 year old Investment banker, from New York, lives in Georgetown, no prior arrests"

"Go pick him up"

"You're not coming boss?"

Gibbs shook his head "This one is all yours Tony"

Gibbs watched his team leave the building, fully aware Vance was behind him.

"Leon, this guy breaks into my house and takes hair in an attempt to frame me for murder and I'm sitting on the sidelines?"

"It's not breaking and entering if you keep your door unlocked. Nothing to stop being in the vicinity, I'm sure you have friends up Georgetown that you need to visit" Vance tucked a toothpick into his cheek and walked away.

Gibbs grabbed his car keys and ran for the elevator.

Gibbs arrived at Thompson's address minutes after the others. He sat outside in his car, waiting.

He was focusing intently on the front door when he spotted something out the corner of his eye. He waited a heartbeat, then another before slowly turning his head, a small building, possibly a garage, two buildings down from their targets address. Someone was definitely there, watching and waiting just like him.

Slowly Gibbs got out of the car, checking numbers and trying his best to look confused. He walked backwards, stopped and peered at house numbers across the street, all the time moving closer to the garage.

When he was almost parallel with the door, he sprinted and barged through before the person behind it had a chance to engage the lock.

The room he found himself in was indeed a garage, a very well kitted out one, in front of him was the Aston Martin, and quickly retreating behind it was a short dark haired man.

Gibbs drew his weapon "Philip Thompson?" The man didn't respond, just moved further away. Gibbs started moving towards him.

The man presumed to be Thompson was moving into a crouch, diagonally opposite Gibbs when the door burst open. Ziva was first through and took up a shooting stance aiming directly at Thompson. Tony and Tim followed.

"Boss?" The three agents hadn't first noticed Gibbs and they were momentarily distracted by his presence.

Suddenly Gibbs shouted "GUN!" and fired two shots.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The agents reacted quickly. Ziva first to reach the body, she checked for a pulse but Gibbs had shot true, 2 bullets to the heart. Their only suspect was dead.

McGee looked around the body, "boss, I don't see a gun"

Tony joined him, also looking everywhere, "he's right boss, there's no gun"

Gibbs holstered his weapon, looking ashen "I saw a gun!"

His team were looking at him strangely and he didn't like that one bit, he turned on his heel and left the garage, ignoring Ducky and Palmer who had just arrived.

The three agents lingered at the crime scene long after Ducky and Palmer had left.

"Tony! What do we do?"

"About what, Ziva?"

"Gibbs, something is.." she struggled to find the word "..hinky"

"She's right Tony, he killed an unarmed man who was our only link into this case, a case where his DNA appears in the wounds of one of the victims, he wasn't even supposed to be here"

Tony glared at both of them "If the boss says he saw a gun, then he saw a gun"

"Then where is it?" Ziva demanded

Tony talked over her "his DNA was planted and he was here for a reason"

"Tony, we hate this as much as you do, but you have to face reality, something is not right here"

Tony shook his head "Let's just finish up here and get back to the office"

Back at the office Tony told McGee and Ziva to take the evidence down to the lab. He made his way up to the directors' office.

Vance's secretary was waiting for him "Go right in, he's been expecting you"

Without hesitation Tony opened the door, glancing quickly into the corner Gibbs usually sat in to avoid detection.

"He's not here, come in, sit down"

"Gibbs tell you what happened?"

"I want to hear it from you"

"There was no gun, I don't know what the boss thought he saw but it wasn't a gun. Thompson was our only lead, I don't think he was the killer, but he knew something, we'll turn over everything we can but…" Tony's voice trailed off.

"You think Gibbs knows more than he's telling?"

"Officially? Not a chance"

"Unofficially?"

Tony looked bereft of confidence "Unofficially, I don't know what to think, something is defiantly 'hinky'"

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room. Tony was the first to break "Where is the boss?"

Vance gave Tony an intense look "until this case is over, Gibbs is not your boss. Get the rest of your team up here"

Tony sat without moving, then mechanically he pulled out his cell. He called McGee who was still in the lab "Directors office, Tim, bring everyone"

In the few minutes it took for the others to arrive Tony sat still and tried to digest what Vance had said.

Vance wasted no time in telling the assembled team that they would not be seeing Gibbs again until the case was solved. He also made it clear that they were not to contact him in any way until that time. Lastly he ordered them to investigate, thoroughly, any link between Gibbs, Thompson and the case.

He was expecting a barrage of questions, of denials, of outrage that their precious boss had been taken away from them, but all he got was 4 pairs of eyes, looking at him uncomprehendingly.

Vance realised that they needed some time to process his bombshell, so he dismissed them, telling them that if any of them wanted to talk, his door was open. He knew that not one of them would take him up on the offer.

The team found themselves in the lab, they were all still shell shocked by the news their leader was, well, no longer their leader.

"Gibbs hasn't done anything wrong! Guys, come on, positive energy!" Abby tried to inject some life into the room.

She lifted her cell "I'm calling him"

Tony caught her hand before she could hit a key and shook his head.

Abby rounded on him "Tony! You can't seriously believe Gibbs is involved!"

Tony gathered her in to his arms whispering in her ear "We have to do this without him, Abs. He needs us, Gibbs needs you, to stay strong and prove Vance wrong, but we need to do it by the book"

Abby fought back her tears, nodded and snapped her cell closed.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Gibbs had spent the last 3 days in his basement, leaving only to use the bathroom. He hadn't bathed, shaved or changed. He stank of bourbon, sawdust and stale sweat.

He worked on his boat and drank to avoid thinking, to avoid feeling. He worked and drank until his body rebelled and forced him into a deep tormented sleep when he woke he started the process all over again, he wasn't hung over simply because he didn't allow himself to sober up.

This was the state Fornell found him in.

"What the hell Gibbs?"

"Not really in the mood for visitors"

"Ya think?" Fornell tried to inject some humour.

Gibbs didn't rise to the bait, ignoring Fornell, pouring more bourbon down his throat.

Fornell looked at him for a long time, willing him to make any attempt at communication, a word, a look, anything, but Gibbs continued to ignore him.

Finally Fornell walked up to him raised his hand and slapped him upside the head. Finally Gibbs reacted, turning to glare at Fornell. Fornell met his glare without backing down. Gibbs looked away first. Fornell waited, when Gibbs reached for the bottle again, he walked up the basement stairs, shaking his head.

When he reached the main house, he put a pot of coffee on, pulled out his cell and made a single call.

Earlier that day….

Vance stood at the top of the stairs and watched his best team fall apart.

Tony was trying to hold it together, but it was clear his heart wasn't in the role of team leader.

Ziva was showing her emotions in the only way she knew how, reacting aggressively and frequently violently to the slightest provocation.

Tim had regressed into the nervous, stuttering agent he had been when he first arrived, looking for direction and approval at every turn.

Abby was a emotional wreck, eating things that seemed to only contain sugar and practically mainlining Caf Pow.

The entire team had barely slept since the Thompson shooting; they seemed to go home only long enough to shower and change. They ran down every lead with a ferocity that scared him at the same time it impressed him. They checked everything they had found, then passed it to someone else who checked it again. They re-ran every bit of evidence they had over and over, determined to find something, anything that would solve the case and exonerate their boss.

Vance had realised over the last 3 days that Gibbs was more than just a boss to these people, he was their lynch pin, their glue, their hero, and they would stop at nothing to serve and protect him.

He made a decision, and called the only man who seemed to still be sane, Ducky.

When Ducky hung up, he muttered to himself, and made another call.

"Agent Fornell?" he said when the phone was answered "I'm afraid we need your help"

Back at Gibbs place….

When the coffee was ready, Fornell moved to the basement door, opened it and called down "Gibbs, get you alcohol soaked ass up here, I've made coffee"

Gibbs thought about ignoring the summons, but the marine in him refused to waste coffee so he went upstairs.

"What do you want Fornell?"

"Me, nothing. But I think these guys have other ideas" Fornell indicated the far end of the room, where his entire team stood.

"boss" Tony spoke, his voice was low and soft, he was stunned by how Gibbs looked.

Gibbs stared uncomprehendingly at them, his mind reeling by how haggard they all looked.

"I'm not your boss"

Tony snapped, the anger he had barely kept in check for the last few days spilled out. "YES YOU ARE!"

"The director was clear, no contact" Gibbs refused to hold onto the hope that flared in his chest when Tony had yelled at him.

"Screw the director, we work for you, not him" Ziva spat.

The rest of the team nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with that sentiment.

Gibbs closed his eyes, emotion threatening to overwhelm him. He turned unsteadily and made for the door.

"Gibbs!"

"Shower" was the only word he could force out.

30 minutes later Gibbs was clean, shaved and in fresh clothes. He hovered in the doorway, watching his team converse quietly, they were right, they were _his_ team and nothing would change that, he owed them an apology and an explanation. He just wasn't sure he could give them either.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Gibbs walked into the room, every set of eyes on him, their gazes expectant.

"You all have to leave" Gibbs met the eyes of person in the room.

The denials all came at once.

Gibbs held up his hand for silence, and gradually the noise subsided.

"I will not let Vance bring any of you down with me. You want to help? You find the link"

"What link?" Fornell was confused

"There has to be one, and if this is as personal as we think it is, the link has to be Gibbs" McGee's mind was already racing through different search strings.

"Go deep McGee, deeper than you've ever gone before"

"Need me to do anything?" Fornell asked

"Maybe, I'll let you know" McGee nodded to Gibbs and left the room.

Ziva and Tony followed looking less than pleased.

"You too Abs"

"How come he gets to stay and I don't?" she pouted, indicating Fornell.

"He doesn't, he'll be leaving right behind you"

Suppressing a growl of frustration, Abby left.

Fornell walked to the door "Director can't stop me stopping by"

"Counting on Fornell"

Abby had made Tony wait just so she could be sure Fornell was actually leaving.

When she saw him drive off, she allowed to Tony to start the car and then immediately kicked off at him. Tony focused on the road and let Abby vent her fear and frustration.

When they got back to the Navy Yard, Tony caught Abby in a huge hug. "I promise, we'll get him back"

"I miss him Tony"

"I know"

"What do we _do?_"

"What we do best, find the bad guy"

In the squad room McGee immediately set to work, kicking off several searches.

"McGee, what exactly are you doing, and please, speak English"

"I'm cross referencing all the victims with Gibbs name and ID number"

"How long will it take?"

"I don't know, a while, I didn't restrict the timeframe or the database, I'm just fishing really"

"All right, everyone go home, we need some sleep" Everyone was exhausted so none of them argued.

The next morning everyone was in early, hovering around McGee's desk, hoping his searches would give them some lead to focus on.

"Still running guys" McGee was disappointed but not really surprised.

Tony called everyone together down in Autopsy. He had realised over night that they all had to start being pro active, not just wait on the killer to make his next move.

"Abby, get all the evidence from all the victims, go over everything again. Re-run tests, do new tests, check for things you would never normally consider. Ducky, Palmer, go over all your notes and any bodies we still have access to, same thing, check everything then check it again"

Abby, Ducky and Palmer nodded.

"McGee, keep on with your searches, you find anything you throw it over to Ziva and me to run down, until then we'll go through the file and crime scene photos"

Looking at them all intently he added "We work this case like we've never worked a case before, and we have to do it without the boss"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

The killer paced around the room like a caged animal, his fury obvious.

_Thompson was dead, that wasn't supposed to happen, Gibbs was supposed to arrest him not kill him._

The killer stopped pacing and forced himself to sit down, his thought gradually becoming less fractured.

_Why did Gibbs shoot? Gibbs NEVER shoots unless forced to._

The killers breathing slowed as his thoughts speeded up.

_Gibbs shot Thompson, unprovoked. Gibbs wasn't even supposed to be there. So either Gibbs royally screwed up (unlikely) or he knew something that he wasn't sharing (possible) or his famous gut took over (probable)._

The killer, now calm, lifted a cell phone and dialled a number from memory. The phone rang for a long time before being answered.

"Why the hell are you calling me?"

"Thompson was killed"

"I am well aware of that, in fact I undoubtedly knew that before you did"

"What's he doing now?"

"I assume you mean Gibbs, he's off the case"

"NO! This won't work if he's not involved"

"You planning on telling me something I don't already know"

The killer hung up without another word and opened a thick file on his desk.

Flipping through the pages until he got to the photographs he spent a few minutes examining each and every one.

_His team, any hint of a threat and they would circle the wagons. Divide and conquer, it was the only way._

The killers gaze lingered on a photo of the whole team together.

_Divide and conquer._


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

A day or so later….

Tony fumbled for his cell phone and answered it with a "mmmm"

"Tony! Wake up, I found the link"

"…time is it?"

"4am, Tony, I know, just please listen. I found the link"

Suddenly all thoughts of sleep vanished and Tony sat up "You found a link?"

"Yes!"

"How? Where? What is it?"

"It'll be easier to show you, my place, not the office"

"Got it, you call Ziva I'll bring Abby"

Less than an hour elapsed before the sleepy team were assembled in Tim's apartment.

"ok, so I started running the string searches.."

Abby interrupted him "Timmy! The short version"

"Right….Gibbs has crossed paths with every one of our victims"

Everyone sat forward, incredulous. Tony broke the silence, "Show me"

McGee spun his computer screen round and pointed out his findings.

"We've got witnesses, people connected to suspects, people connected to victims, all with one thing in common, they were all interviewed by Leroy Jethro Gibbs"

Tony looked at the file McGee had pulled together "Thompson's not on this list"

McGee passed him another file. "Thompson's brother was a petty officer put away 14 years ago, according to the file, he'll never be a free man, 111 years to run concurrent. 56 charges, all involving children. The boss got the confession"

Tony rubbed his face tiredly, wincing at the roughness of his stubble. "So did Gibbs interview the brother, the dead Thompson?"

"No, he only came into contact with the arrested Thompson"

"I don't get it. Why did he shoot him?" He looked at everyone to see if they had any answers.

Ziva shook her head slowly while Abby shrugged.

"McGee, can I take these?" Tony held up both files

When McGee nodded Tony headed for the door, "Cover for me McGee, I'll be in as soon as I can"


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Tony opened the door as silently as he could and shook his head, even with everything that was going on the man still didn't lock his front door.

Venturing into the kitchen thinking he would make coffee before waking his boss, he was surprised to find Gibbs already doing just that.

"You got a reason for being here at 0515, DiNozzo?"

"Ah, yeah"

"You planning on telling me what it is?"

Tony sat down heavily at the kitchen table "McGee found the link" he slid the first file across the table.

Gibbs read the summary quickly then put the file down. As always his face betrayed no sign of his thoughts or emotions although Tony watched him closely. Silently Gibbs poured 2 mugs of coffee, handing one to Tony he sat down and began to read the detail in the file.

After half an hour Gibbs looked up. "What's the other file?"

Tony held the file out "Thompson" was all he said.

It took another hour and another coffee for Gibbs to finish his examination the file. Finally he spoke "I remember this case, Gary, the one we put away, was one sick scum bag. We thought that the brother might have been involved but there was no evidence, nothing more than a suspicion"

"Did you interview him? Philip?"

"No, Mike did. I never even saw the guy"

"So you didn't recognise him, when you shot him?"

"No Tony, I never saw him before that day"

"What about his name, did you recognise his name?"

Gibbs glared at Tony then in a level voice asked "Do you remember every name from every case we've had in the last 10 years?"

Tony said nothing but pleaded with his eyes for his boss to give him _something_.

Gibbs held his gaze and said gruffly "You should be getting to the office"

Tony looked defeated and bereft of confidence as he stood up and moved slowly towards the door. Gibbs wished there something to could say or do to ease the younger man's burden.

"Tony!" He waited till Tony turned to face him "This is good work. It gives us a focus"

For the first time in days Tony smiled and felt optimistic and all it had taken was the use of the word "us".


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

**A/N Big thanks for all the reviews and the alerts, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside **

Gibbs took the files and fresh coffee down to the basement where he spent the next few hours thinking and more importantly _remembering_.

Pushing Thompson to the back of his mind for the moment, he focused on each of the 15 murdered victims.

He remembered each and every case, but he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried, remember the people who had become this killers victims. Their roles in the original cases had been minimal to say the least, most of them just names in a long list of people interviewed because of their connection, however tenuous to a victim or a crime scene. He was no closer to understanding why they had been targeted now.

Unable to avoid it any longer, he turned his attention to the Thompson file, he didn't open it; he didn't have to read it again to remember every agonising detail. This was one case that still had the power to keep him awake at night.

He hadn't lied to Tony but he hadn't been entirely honest either.

He had known from day 1 on that case that Philip was just as guilty as his brother. He knew it, Franks knew it, the brothers knew that they knew. But they couldn't prove it and Gary refused to give him up.

It was true that he had never come face to face with Philip before the day he shot him but he did have his name and a 14 year old photo etched into his mind.

It didn't make sense, why had the killer set up Thompson like that, what was his intention? How did the killer _know_? Gibbs gut was screaming at him, this was relevant but he couldn't for the life of him work out why.

He thought through everything as logically as he could. The timing of each murder, the lack of evidence, the constant pressure on him and his team, the link to his old files and he came up with one sobering theory.

This was an inside job


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Gibbs left his house and walked to the closest store where he bought a pre paid disposable cell. Walking again to a local park he used this cell to call Tony.

When Tony's cell rang, the caller id showing an unfamiliar number, he answered it warily.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo"

"It's Gibbs, say nothing, meet me at Lou's Diner as soon as you can get there"

Gibbs hung up before Tony could respond.

Tony stared at his phone, then looked up at MTAC where the director was staring at him. He quelled his rising panic and forced himself to stay at his desk until the director moved back inside his office. As soon as he did Tony leapt to his feet "McGee, I'm going out, cover for me" he hissed before running for the elevator.

Ziva and McGee exchanged questioning glances then turned back to their respective tasks.

Lou's Diner….

"What's up boss?" Tony asked as he slid into the booth.

"This is an inside job Tony"

Tony nodded "Rule 40"

"You know what to do?"

Again Tony nodded "Rally the troops, close ranks, circle the wagons, remember rule 39 and obey rule 15"

Gibbs felt a surge of pride at the steel which had entered Tony's voice. And explained his theory.

Back at NCIS….

Tony discreetly spoke to every member of the inner circle, asking them to meet at a bar across town later that evening, stressing that they weren't to arrive as a group.

All of them agreed and none of them questioned him about the obscure request.

At the bar….

Once everyone had arrived Tony brought them all up to date.

The events of the last few months stopped them being shocked, but there was a tense silence as everyone digested what this meant.

Fornell (whom Tony had decided was an honorary member of the inner circle) spoke first.

"Your director know about this?"

Tony shook his head, "It's just us, and that's the way it has to be until we know who and why"

Fornell nodded his agreement. "Anything you want me to do?"

"yeah, the killer, or someone connected to him was inside Gibbs place, we know he didn't take anything other than hair but we don't know if he left anything. Can you sweep for bugs?"

"Consider it done"

"McGee, I need you to find out who accessed those files online, Ziva, go talk to the archive office in case they went in person"

He then handed a wad of cash to Palmer "Jimmy, buy us all pre paid cell phones, but don't buy them all at the same store, work cells maybe compromised but we can use that to our advantage"

After agreeing to meet at Gibbs place as soon as they could, the team scattered.

Most of the team arrived at Gibbs place little more than an hour later. Fornell had done the sweep and found nothing. Jimmy had bought the phones and a couple of spares, McGee's search had revealed no one had accessed any of the files they were interested in.

Ziva was the only one yet to appear and it was getting late. Tony resisted calling her but as time marched on he was getting more and more worried. Eventually well after midnight she arrived looking pale and shaken.

"Did you find anything?" Tony demanded.

Ziva met his eyes "Yes Tony, I did"

"And?"

"Give her a minute Tony" Gibbs said softly as he put a shot of Bourbon in Ziva's shaking hand.

She downed the shot in one and said "the files were accessed by 2 people on different days 16 months ago. Special Agent Caitlin Todd and Special Agent Jennifer Sheppard"


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

The silence was deafening then everyone started to talk, or rather shout at once.

Gibbs stopped the shouting with a piercing whistle. As soon as there was silence, Tony started questioning Ziva.

"Are you sure?"

"of course I'm sure Tony, I checked the ID copies the archive guard made"

"but they are both dead!"

"Yes Tony, I am aware of this fact" Ziva was exhausted and tired of Tony's idiotic questions and began to snap back at him.

Gibbs let them bicker for a few minutes before stepping in.

"Ziver, did you get a list of what files they accessed"

Grateful for the interruption, Ziva's tone softened and she dug a list out of her bag. "In addition to the 16 files we know about they also looked at 30 others, they are all summarised here"

"30! Good lord that means we potentially have another 30 victims!" Ducky blanched at the thought and reached for the open bottle of Bourbon.

Gibbs handed the list to McGee "Do your thing McGee, see if there is anything other than me linking these files"

McGee stood up and prepared to leave "you know, if we installed a high speed internet line here, I wouldn't have to waste time going back and forward to my apartment" he said hesitatingly.

"Fine, whatever it takes" Gibbs replied without missing a beat. "Ziva, go with him, from now on, no-one goes anywhere alone"

Over the next few days Gibbs house began to look more and more like a makeshift office with computers and files on every available surface. He refused to let anything technological intrude on his basement and found himself retreating there more and more. He didn't think there had ever been this many people in his house.

Abby seemed to have moved in and there was always someone asleep on his sofa. They had to keep up appearances at the office, so every day Ducky, Palmer and Abby went in with at least one of the agents.

They were settling down into a routine that was frustratingly getting them no where when another envelope was delivered to Autopsy.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

**A/N I hadn't intended posting this till tomorrow but I thought I'd give ****Pjrybicki another one to say thanks for the reviews!**

The team worked the crime scene slowly with an awful sense of de ja vu. Every one of them was on edge and jumpy.

Ducky and Abby examined the body several times but didn't find any foreign DNA or fibres, planted or otherwise.

McGee took note of which file the victim originally appeared in and poured over the original details something was nagging the back of his mind but he was too tired to chase the thought. He needed sleep, he had been working 20 hours a day and his mind was starting to shut down.

He left his desk and went down to the lab. "How long till you can leave Abby?"

"Well I should wait till these test finish but that could be hours, lets just go now, the results will still be here in the morning"

They left the office together and got into Abby's car. They were both too exhausted to notice the car which followed them most of the way.

They stumbled through the Gibbs front door, McGee was barely able to stand, but the sofa had been taken by Tony and the air bed by Ziva. Despair flooded his face.

Gibbs caught his arm "Tim, take the guest room, Abby can bunk in with me tonight"

Abby turned to him with a grin.

"No funny business Sciuto" Gibbs said with a smile of his own.

Everyone slept late the next day, McGee later than everyone else, no one having the heart to wake him.

"Go, go in, McGee can work from here today"

When McGee finally surfaced he didn't look and more rested than he had the night before. Scratching his head he mumbled "Agent Gow, that name mean anything to you boss?"

"Gow? Patrick Gow? Jeeze Tim, where did you drag that name up from?"

"So you know him?"

"I wouldn't say I knew him, I knew OF him. He joined NCIS roughly the same time I did, he didn't last long, less than a year, then he transferred out of field work. What's the relevance?"

"Something I noticed on each of the files, there are two names that appear in each file, yours in the main file and his on the audit sheet that gets appended to each file once it goes into archive"

Gibbs looked puzzled then lifted his burn phone. "I'm calling Mike Franks" he said to McGee as he started dialling.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Much later the same day…..

Everyone was gathered at Gibbs place, much to Tony's relief Gibbs was gradually assuming command of their investigation and had made several cryptic to calls to all of them through the course of the day.

"Abby, what ya got for me?"

"I ran the CCTV footage from the archives, on the day Kate went there, 3 people visited. Only one of them I have a clear shot of their face, Toby from the Middle East desk, he was in and out in 10 mins. The other 2 weren't so accommodating but I did manage to work out height, the first is definitely male, 6 foot 6 and heavy, carrying an injury to his left leg, the way he's walking"

"Alistair Pearson" Gibbs and Tony said at the same time.

"The third person has to be the person impersonating Kate, small, 5 foot 4, but they could be in heels. Looking at the other date, when Jenny went, only 1 person went to archives that day and I think it's the same person" Abby pulled up the video and played in slow motion "Look at the way she moves and keeps her face hidden from all the cameras"

"Good work Abs! I want you to go through the tapes again, look to see if this person has visited on any days other than the ones we know about"

"McGee, check the guard schedule and look into everyone that came into contact with our suspect"

"Ziva, the ID's that were used? Originals?"

"No way to tell, all I had was a scanned image"

"Fornell, what did you uncover about Gow?"

"The man's got friends upstairs, Jethro. He had been working a smuggling case that crossed over onto a child porn case being worked on by Leon Vance, I couldn't find out the details but your director reported him for dereliction of duty, 2 weeks later he was out of field work, probably should have been fired on the spot"

"Here's the kicker Jethro" Fornell continued "the first 3 or 4 cases of yours he audited, he was still in the field office, he shouldn't have been anywhere near them"

"DiNozzo, you find out everything you can about Gow, Fornell, you help him, we need to do this on the QT"

Gibbs lifted his car keys "David, with me, we've got a visit to make"


	14. Chapter 14

CHPATER 14

The killer punched the steering wheel in frustration. None of them were ever alone. To achieve his goal he had to conquer them and to do that he had to divide them.

Time for a change in tactics.

He lifted his phone and dialled.

"Yeah?" a woman's voice answered.

"Scout their apartments; find me the one I can get easiest access to"

The woman hung up without response, she knew better than to question his demands.

Resigned for the moment to doing nothing more than watching, he put the car into drive and followed.

Gibbs was driving, he hadn't told Ziva where they were going or who they were going to visit. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes and wrenched the wheel to take the very tight right hand turn.

He slowed down along this street as if he was looking for a specific number.

"Gibbs? Where are we going?"

"No where now, that dark blue car behind us can you get the licence plate without making it obvious?"

Ziva resisted the impulse to turn round and fiddled with the side mirror control stick until she could see the car and its licence plate clearly.

"Got it"

"Send it to McGee"

"Done. Now what?"

"We take our tail for a little drive"

For the next hour Gibbs drove aimlessly, giving McGee enough time to run the plates and come back to them with the results. As soon as the results were in Gibbs headed back home.

The killer watched them go back inside the house, then went back to the streets that Gibbs have driven slowly down. He couldn't figure out why these streets had interested him.

He felt like he was on the back foot and that wasn't the way this was supposed to work. _He_ was supposed to be calling the shots.

He drove quickly back to his own house, deciding to make things a move a little faster.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

The plates, predictably, were from a car stolen several weeks before and bore no relation to the car they were currently attached to.

Gibbs theorised that the plates would change regularly, but warned everyone to keep an eye out for any potential tails.

"Boss?, what did Franks have to say?" McGee asked.

"Only that Gow was a slimy little prick, he didn't really have much contact with him" Gibbs reply was distracted as he pondered the latest developments.

Gibbs turned to McGee fully focused "What did you find out about the guard schedule?"

"Um, the guards who had direct contact with our female suspect are young, been employed for less than a year, neither would have know who Kate or Director Sheppard were and it was a different guard each time, I guess she couldn't risk being remembered"

"Abby? You got anything yet"

"Nope, Gibbs this is going to take days" Abby grouched.

Tony and Fornell returned with precious little information about Gow.

McGee decided to stay at Tony's that night and they dropped Fornell off on the way.

Ziva and Abby stayed with Gibbs.

At various points across the city the exhausted team feel into deep and troubled sleep.

Ziva, being asleep on the sofa was the first to wake up, rolling to her feet, she followed the sound of banging to the front door. Cautious she peeked out without opening the door, seeing a UPS delivery man standing there didn't make her any less cautious.

Keeping her gun hidden she cracked open the door. The delivery man demanded a signature for the padded envelope he held in his hands. Ziva signed but asked him to leave the package on the top step. Bemused, but clearly used to odd requests, the delivery man did as he was asked and walked away.

Grabbing gloves Ziva yelled for Gibbs before going back to the package. Gingerly she lifted it inside.

When Gibbs and Abby saw what she held in her hands, Abby immediately put on gloves and collected a scalpel and a tray, Gibbs made calls to Tony and Ducky.

The early morning traffic was light and all the team members arrived in record time. Without wasting any more time Abby sliced open the package. It was another severed digit, but this time instead of map coordinates, the tattoo was an address.

It took a moment for the significance of the address to sink in, when it did Gibbs immediately moved to Abby who had started to tremble violently and held her tightly.

The address was hers.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

They all looked at each other, indecision evident on every face.

Still holding Abby, Gibbs barked orders, "Abby stays here with me, you all go to the crime scene, send everything to the outside lab and tell Vance I want to see him, here, immediately"

The team took off while Gibbs tried his best to calm Abby down.

They stopped off at the office to collect the Autopsy wagon, Tony ran up to the directors office to tell him about the latest victim, where it was and to pass on Gibbs message. He didn't wait for a response before he ran out and back into the waiting car.

Tony looked at the latest victim, displayed prominently in Abby's living room. He let out a sigh "I don't need a file to tell me about this one, Ducky. My first case with Gibbs, his daughter was selling drugs around base, a bad batch killed 4 people before we stopped her. This guy took it hard, couldn't believe his little girl could do such a thing"

McGee and Ziva were collecting evidence and photos from the rest of the apartment. Every room had been destroyed. "We can't ever let her come back here" McGee murmured. "I agree McGee, we must keep as much of this from her as possible."

When the evidence had been collected and the body removed, the three agents went looking for any witnesses not really expecting to get anywhere. They were shocked therefore when Abby's neighbour could describe in great detail the victim who had arrived late the previous evening, along with a somewhat less detailed description of the man _and woman _he was with.

Vance drove carefully to Gibbs place, alone. Parking up he entered the house quickly, finding Gibbs hovering over a sleeping Abby.

"Gibbs"

"Leon, what the hell is going on?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing?"

"Patrick Gow, what's the story?"

"Gow? Gow is behind all this?" Vance was incredulous.

"Maybe, what's the story?"

Vance sat down "To give you the highlights, the smuggling ring he was 'investigating', they were smuggling children into the US, selling them into a porn ring run by some of our less honourable service men and one very less than honourable woman. This woman turned out to be sleeping with Gow, that's what I reported him for, he should have been arrested, he screwed up the entire case!"

"That's great Leon, but it doesn't explain why the hell he's coming after me and my team!"

Vance shook his head "I don't know Gibbs, I wish I did"


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

With the troops re-assembled, they started go through the photos and evidence collected. The external lab they were using was under strict instructions to call one of the burn phones when they had any results. Vance had called them personally to ensure this case was their highest priority.

Abby appeared in the doorway "Don't shut me out of this"

McGee looked up from the photo he was studying "Abby, you really don't want to see this"

Her voice hardened "Yeah, McGee, I really do"

McGee looked at Gibbs, who nodded and stepped to the side to give Abby access to the table, slipping his hand onto her hip.

She spent a long time staring at each photo intently, silently. When she looked up at the team her eyes blazed with anger. "Everything, everything that's me, destroyed"

"Abs, no, that's just stuff, everything that's you, it's here and here" Gibbs said softly touching her briefly on her chest and her head.

Ziva, who had been looking at the photos as Abby discarded them said suddenly "I think they've made their first mistake"

Everyone turned to her, hope in every face.

"The victims blood is mainly in the living room and bedroom, but look here, along the edge of the glass from the bathroom cabinet, looks like blood to me"

Tony tore the photo from her hands and stared at it. The he dialled the lab.

"This is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, the crime scene evidence we sent over, there is a piece of glass collected from the bathroom, we believe it has blood on it" he paused while the tech was finding the correct evidence bag.

"Got it? Run DNA, compare it to the victim, if it doesn't match let me know as soon as possible"

The team stayed where they were a tense silence filling the room, they were all watching Tony's cell, willing it to ring, willing the answer to be the one they wanted.

When a knock came from the front door, everyone of them jumped and pulled their weapons. Gibbs, moved silently and quickly through the house, Ziva close behind him.

It was one of the mail clerks from the office, with Vance's copy of the smuggling / child porn case that appeared to be at the root of all their current problems.

Gibbs didn't have time to read more than the summary before Tony's cell rang. He hesitated before answering it, hope that they were about to catch a break and fear that this was another dead end warring inside him.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to the tech and hung up after saying simply "thank you"

He took a deep breath before turning to his team, "No match, the blood doesn't belong to the victim or to Abby, he checked that too just to be safe"

The whole team shared Tony's relief.

"Now we pray we can get an ID"

While they waited Gibbs read through the file Vance had sent over, while Ziva went through Abby's neighbours statement with her, focusing on the descriptions with no real intention other than to pass the time.

By unspoken agreement they had all stayed in Gibbs place Palmer and Ducky joining them when they had finished the autopsy. They were all crammed into the living room, half asleep.

When Tony's cell rang in the early hours of the morning, they were all startled into alertness.

Wiping his hands and licking his lips nervously Tony answered, said "thank you " once again and hung up.

"Anne Brooks" he said to the waiting team.

Gibbs immediately lifted Vance's file and flicked through it "That's the woman Gow was sleeping with"


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

The team were now wide awake and looking to Gibbs for direction.

He wasted no time "Find her"

McGee immediately went to a computer and started typing furiously, Ziva and Tony not far behind him.

After little more than an hour McGee called out "Think I've got something here boss"

Gibbs moved to look over McGee's shoulder.

"She has 7 cell phones registered, at 3 different addresses. 2 are currently switched on, both showing at this address"

"You three" Gibbs said indicating his three agents "Go pick her and be careful!"

The three agents moved towards the house cautiously, they circled the property checking windows and doors carefully.

Reluctantly they split up, Tony and McGee going in the front, Ziva, alone, taking the back door.

Co-ordinating their movements, prepared for a fight, Tony knocked.

When there was no response and no word form Ziva to indicate anyone had tried to leave through the back, Tony knocked again, louder, yelling out "NCIS, open up!" at the same time.

This time the boys heard movement and tensed; their weapons ready.

The door was opened by a petite brunette.

"Anne Brooks?" Tony asked

The woman nodded.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Lieutenant Terrance Williams" Turning the woman round and cuffing her, Tony finished reading her, her rights while McGee gave Ziva the all clear to come in. Together they cleared the building, verifying that the woman was alone.

Calling the local LEO's to secure the scene, they took Ms Brooks to the Navy Yard.

Back at the Navy Yard, Gibbs marched in, glaring at Vance as if daring him to challenge his right to be there.

All Vance did was nod and step aside.

Gibbs marched into the interrogation room and started without sitting down.

"Who is your partner?"

"Which one?" was the flippant reply.

"Let's start with the one doing the killings, then we'll move onto Gow"

At the mention of Gow's name Brooks looked up sharply.

Gibbs smirked at her until she dropped her gaze and told him what he wanted to hear.

"His name is Danny Bridges, his address is down Southeast DC way, you'll probably find him there"

Gibbs threw her a notepad and pen, she quickly scribbled the address.

"Gow?"

"He'll be at work, he's always in the office, says it gives him the perfect alibi"

Gibbs stood up and left the room.

Walking into the observation room, he barked orders at his team. "McGee, find out everything about Bridges. DiNozzo, David, bring in Gow"

When they had left, Gibbs turned to Vance "She spilled too easy"


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

**A/N I know this one is short but it's the only to make it work.**

Gow went with Tony and Ziva without a fuss, in fact he smirked the entire way back to the Navy Yard.

Sitting him down in an interrogation room the first thing he said was "Lawyer" then went back to smirking.

They left the room and went to find Gibbs.

They found him beside McGee, trying to make him work faster by pacing and glaring however when he spotted Tony and Ziva, he said "Leave that till we get back, we bring this scum bag in together"

They went to pick up Bridges, while Tony was feeling confident after the ease of bringing in Gow and Brooks but that same fact was making Gibbs more apprehensive.

As they arrived at the address, they got out the car and readied their weapons. It was a run down apartment block with no back entrance, and Bridges apartment number put him right in the middle.

They moved up the stairs slowly, aware of being watched but not one other resident opened a door.

At the designated door Gibbs hammered his fist against it then, when there was no response, he kicked it open.

Moving inside quickly they moved through every room, it was completely empty. No people, no furniture, nothing.

Furious Gibbs yelled "There is a reason we were sent here, find it!"


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Predictably it was McGee who found the hidden camera, without moving it he began to set up his laptop to trace its signal but as soon as he did, it switched off.

"I knew it was too easy" Gibbs yelled as he left the apartment.

The others followed him, all hope they had of ending this today rapidly turning to despair.

Back at the Navy Yard Gibbs put McGee back to work researching Bridges while he went up to see the director.

Coming back down, McGee looked at him uncomfortably "Boss, Bridges died 2 years ago"

"Should have waited, it was too damn easy" Gibbs anger was palpable. He stalked off in the direction of interrogation, his team hurrying behind him.

He forcibly calmed himself before going into the room with Brooks, sitting down he said conversationally "Bridges is dead"

"Is he now? And did you find this out before or after you stormed that empty apartment?"

Brooks was too calm, too _knowing _and it suddenly something clicked in Gibbs mind, by going into that apartment they had alerted the killer that they had at least one of his accomplices in custody. Mentally head slapping himself for under estimating his opponents.

Brooks was watching him closely but Gibbs being Gibbs he didn't show anything of his inner turmoil.

Standing up with a smile Brooks said "Are you planning on charging me with anything Agent Gibbs or will I just be on my way?"

"How did you get that cut on your arm?" Gibbs asked in a deceptively soft voice.

Brooks froze, she was wearing long sleeves, how could he possibly know about the cut. Unconsciously her hand grazed the cut in question and she sat down again, slowly, her mind racing.

Gibbs took hold of her hand and roughly pushed up her sleeve.

"That cut was made by a piece of bathroom cabinet glass, which was found, with your blood on it, at the crime scene. So yes, Ms Brooks, I will be charging you, with murder. You might want to think about that for a while"

Gibbs stood and left the room, going directly to observation.

He watched her for a few minutes as she tried to process this information through a veil of rising panic. The Gibbs went to visit Gow.

Gow took one look at Gibbs "You don't look like my lawyer"

"He's on his way"

"I'm not answering any questions until he gets here"

"Oh I'm not here to ask you anything, I just stopped by to tell you that Anne Brooks has been charged with the murder of Lieutenant Terrance Williams, criminal damage and intimidation of a government employee"

The smirk Gow had been wearing most of the day slipped. Gibbs responded with a smirk of his own and left the room.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Leaving Gow, Gibbs went back to the squad room where the team were trying without much success to find something that would lead them to the killer.

"Financials?" he asked,

"Been through Gow and Brooks, nothing out of ordinary for Gow, nothing odd from Brooks for the last 3 years"

"Anything from the crime scene we can use?"

"Negative boss" Tony sounded flat and defeated.

"I think I might have a theory" McGee said while still staring at his screen.

"As vague as that sounds, McGee, right now I'll take it"

"ok, from the financials we can surmise they weren't paying anyone to be part of this. Gow didn't actually kill any of the victims, although he did pass the information on to whoever did. We also know that Brooks was present at, at least one murder"

"You got a point somewhere in there McGee?" Gibbs patience, already stretched was threatening to snap.

"Abby found that Brooks had visited the archives twice before the days we knew about, I think Gow went through your files to find someone with a personal grudge against you, and he used that to get them involved in this. So I went through the files myself, and I found this.."

McGee clicked a button and the plasma sprang into life, showing a mug shot of a greasy, weasel faced man.

"Ian Rivers, boss, you put him away for assault with a deadly weapon"

"I remember McGee"

"Anyway, he got released 18 months ago but that's not all, in the 10 months leading up to his release, he was visited every week by Special Agent Kate Todd"

"For a dead person, Kate sure is getting around" Tony muttered followed by "Ow!" as Gibbs hand connected with the back of his head.

"Find him McGee" Gibbs ordered as he went back to interrogation


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Gibbs walked into the observation room and watched Brooks for a few minutes.

"Gow's been asking for" one of the techs said.

"He can wait"

Gibbs left observation and went into the room, sitting nonchalantly down opposite Brooks.

"I've got 16 murder charges with your name on them. You're lucky Washington DC doesn't have the death penalty"

Brooks glared at him with undisguised hatred "You'll never be able to make that stick"

"I can put you at the scene for the latest murder, and I can prove all the other murders were committed by the same person"

Brooks looked like she was going to throw up.

Gibbs pressed his advantage "Of course, you could always try telling me something I don't already know…"

Brooks finally looked beaten. "Ian Rivers" she whispered

Gibbs slammed his fist on to the table making brooks jump "I said tell me something I don't already know!"

"You know about Rivers?" Brooks looked bewildered

"oh yeah, I know all about him and how you visited him every week for 10 months using MY dead agents credentials"

Before Gibbs could continue there was a knock at the door. Furious he yanked it open and pinned a terrified looking McGee to the opposite wall.

"This had better be damned good" Gibbs snarled

"I, we, um, Rivers, we know where he is"

Gibbs let go of him straightened his jacket. "Good work, lets go pick him up"

Still shaking, McGee followed.

The apartment was just as dank and run down as the previous one, but this time at least it was occupied.

Bursting through the door, the agents quickly had him surrounded. He stood in the centre of the room, a pistol in his hand. Holding eye contact with Gibbs he lifted the pistol until the barrel was resting under his own chin, he winked once and fired.


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

As soon as Gibbs had seen the look on Rivers face when he walked in the door, he knew the man would never give himself up.

Without him, breaking Gow was going to be much harder but hopefully not impossible. Gibbs thoughts meandered as they worked through the filthy apartment.

After dropping off the evidence at the external lab, they headed back to NCIS, and were greeted by a waiting Director Vance.

"Gow's waived his right to a lawyer and is demanding to speak to you"

Gibbs turned to Ziva "Go see what he wants"

"Me?"

"Yes, David, you"

Ziva gave her boss a funny look then walked off.

"That a good idea Gibbs, it was you specifically he asked for" Vance asked.

"I'm not about to give that scum bag anything he asks for Leon"

"Can you break him without Rivers?"

"I hope so Leon, I hope so"

Gibbs walked down to interrogation with the sole intention of watching Ziva rattle Gow. He got there just in time.

"I want to see Gibbs"

"Well you have me instead"

"I will only talk to Gibbs"

"Anything you wish to say to Gibbs you can say to me"

"No, Gibbs or I don't talk"

"Fine, then I will go and talk to Brooks and Rivers"

At the mention of Rivers, Gow's pallor turned grey. "Rivers?" he said in a strangled voice.

"Yes, Ian Rivers, how long do you think it will take for him to start to talk to me?"

Ziva got up and left the interrogation room, closing the door softly behind her.

"Nice touch Ziva" Gibbs said as he opened the door to Brooks's interrogation room.

Brooks was pacing the room when Gibbs entered.

"Sit down"

She did, looking very nervous and more than a little scared.

"Rivers is dead, shot himself as soon as he saw me. If that was part of your plan, it back fired because now you're going to carry this whole thing yourself"

Shaking violently, Brooks dropped her head into her hands.

Gibbs pushed again "Gow won't do anything to stop this happening; he'll walk while you sit in prison for the rest of your life"

"He said he was better than you" Brooks looked up at Gibbs "he was wrong" she nodded "I'll tell you everything"

Several hours later after reading through Brooks statement, Tony and Gibbs walked into Gow's interrogation room.

"Read him his rights DiNozzo"

Gow sat in silence and stared at the file Gibbs had in his hands.

When Tony was done with the Miranda, Gibbs waved the file at Gow "This is a sworn statement by Anne Brooks, and with it, I'm going to put you away for a very long time"

"Rivers killed all of those people!"

"You called the shots Patrick, it's all in here…how you found Rivers, how you got hold of dead agents credentials, how you were very specific about which files to copy, how you picked the victims from those files. It's over."

Gow became very still and stared at the file, refusing to meet Gibbs eyes.

Gibbs sensed he was close to the edge, but waited to see if he would topple before he pushed again.

When Gow finally met Gibbs eyes, it was all he could do not to jump up in triumph, Gow was broken!

Instead Gibbs asked "Thompson, I still don't get that"

"A favour for Gary, at first Phil visited every chance he got, sometimes 3 times in a week but when he made it big, he cut off his brother, Gary decided it was time for payback. You were supposed to arrest him not kill him"

Tony forced Gow to stand and quickly applied handcuffs. At the door, Gibbs stopped them "Why? Patrick, why?"

Without turning round Gow answered "Everyday for my entire career I've had to listen to Gibbs this, Gibbs that, Gibbs the goddamn superhero! There isn't a woman in the Navy Yard that wouldn't drop her knickers for you. That was supposed to have been me!"

Tony and Gibbs shared a look of utter amazement before Tony propelled Gow out the door.


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24 – EPILOGUE

**A/N the actual story ends half way through this epilogue, the remaining bits are pure GABBY fluff. For those that don't do fluff,, I have put a fluff alert so you know when to stop reading.**

Gibbs sat in the directors office drinking a mug of coffee.

"Are you kidding me? He did all this because he was jealous of you?"

"The longer he got away with it, the more superior he felt and he started taking bigger risks just to prove he was better than me"

"Thompson, why did you really shoot him?"

Gibbs held Vance's gaze "I saw a gun Leon"

"Lucky for you one was found, Agent David went back and did a second examination of the scene, she found a pistol covered in Thompson's fingerprints. She's at a loss as to how they all missed the first time round"

Gibbs hid his smile by taking another mouthful of coffee.

"Ms Sciuto's insurance company has been on the phone, full payment will be with her shortly, also the agency will be giving her compensation. Do I need to arrange short term accommodation or does our resident "Superhero" already have that covered?"

Gibbs stood up shaking his head; he had a feeling that it was going to be a long time before he could shake this "superhero" tag.

****FLUFF ALERT***** FLUFF FROM HERE ON OUT*****

Gibbs got home as quickly as he could. Walking in he looked around at the mess his house was in, shaking his head at the monumental effort it would take to get back to normal he went into the kitchen to find Fornell and Abby arguing softly over a crossword puzzle clue.

Fornell stood as Gibbs entered "Abby, it has been a pleasure but now that your very own superhero has returned, I shall leave you in his capable hands"

"Word gets around fast" Gibbs said with a glare.

Laughing Fornell lifted his jacket and left.

"The insurance company called, I guess I should start looking for a new place"

Gibbs put his arms round her "No rush Abs, you can stay here as long as you want"

"Well I guess now that everyone's gone I should move my stuff back into the spare room"

Gibbs tightened his hold on her "No rush for that either"

"Special Agent Gibbs, are you insinuating that I stay here with you sharing your bed?" Abby's tone was playful but her eyes were wary and held unspoken questions.

Gibbs answered both questions her by tilting her face and brushing his lips across hers.

**THE END**


End file.
